“Good fences make good neighbors,” Robert Frost wrote in the poem “Mending Wall.” It is a line that captures the 1914 poem’s themes of boundaries, ownership, and privacy perfectly. But today, 100 years later, fences are becoming more of a quaint notion in an increasingly urbanized world. In another 100 years, will streets be viewed in the same way?
Chris Eatough, a former professional biker and the director of BikeArlington, envisions an Arlington County where there are more bikes than cars. In order to get there, says Eatough, the county needs to create a connected network of protected bike lanes.
Why Arlington (and Every Place) Needs More Protected Bike Lanes More »
Washington D.C. is the most walkable metropolitan area in the U.S., according to a report by George Washington University and Smart Growth America. The District’s number-one ranking has surprised some, prompting them to ask how D.C. was able to surpass places such as New York City, which not only contains one of the best subway systems in the world but also that epitome of walkability known as Manhattan.
Ever since George Romero’s 1978 film “Dawn of the Dead” (arguably the best zombie film of all time, with a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), zombies have symbolized modern-day anxieties, specifically American consumerism. For what is a zombie but a mindless automaton consuming everything in its path? But give me a little latitude here, because I believe a strong case can be made that zombie movies also mirror migration trends and settlement patterns, and the new movie “Warm Bodies” gives hope that things are headed in the right direction.
The Rebirth of the Zombie and — Dare I Say it — Walkable City More »
In the video that follows, produced by me and Mobility Lab’s Editor Paul Mackie, Ballston Business Improvement District CEO Tina Leone says, “We see the Silver Line as making Ballston the center of the universe. It makes everything even better here. We already have a very active Metro stop, with 26,000 trips per day. We see that growing to 38,000 trips per day along with the Silver Line by 2020. So that’s coming very, very fast.”
There seems to be quite a lot of flirting, or at least furtive glancing, taking place on public transportation. A new series of Metro ads celebrating the opening of the Silver Line suggests the new rail line to Reston might not only connect Washington D.C. residents with jobs and housing, but with dating opportunities as well. There is data suggesting some truth to the idea that one can find love on transit.
